Microsoft’s Skype Internet telephone service is looking to quadruple its number of users and reach 1 billion, division president Tony Bates said on Thursday.
Bates, who heads the unit that was acquired by Microsoft last year, but operates autonomously, said growth would come from mobile users and partnerships like the one Skype has with Facebook.
Bates told the All Things Digital conference in California that he hoped to “accelerate” progress toward his business goal of expanding Skype.
“If we can get to 1 billion [users], I’d be very happy,” he said.
He cited Facebook as a key to growth for Skype, which now has 250 million users.
“They are the partner of choice,” he said, offering the possibility “for us to become the de facto standard for voice and video communication.”
The Skype feature on Facebook allows for multiperson conversations and a camera icon that can be clicked on for instant one-on-one video calls with friends.
Bates said that because of explosive growth in the use of smartphones, “the top priority is definitely mobile,” including competing platforms from firms such as Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS.
Skype is moving to expand its presence on various mobile platforms, with apps that allow smartphone users more calling options by using the Internet, he said.
“The dream for Skype is to be on every major platform that has momentum,” he said. “Today in terms of downloads it’s the iPhone, but Android has the fastest growing momentum.”
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Until US President Donald Trump’s return a year ago, when the EU talked about cutting economic dependency on foreign powers — it was understood to mean China, but now Brussels has US tech in its sights. As Trump ramps up his threats — from strong-arming Europe on trade to pushing to seize Greenland — concern has grown that the unpredictable leader could, should he so wish, plunge the bloc into digital darkness. Since Trump’s Greenland climbdown, top officials have stepped up warnings that the EU is dangerously exposed to geopolitical shocks and must work toward strategic independence — in defense, energy and
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